Ellen DeGeneres, the prominent US television personality, recently made her first public appearance since relocating to the UK, stating that she made the decision to settle in England the day after Donald Trump’s re-election as US president.
Speaking to an audience in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, the comedian and former talk show host conveyed that life “is just better” in the UK.
DeGeneres also mentioned that she and her wife, Portia de Rossi, are contemplating renewing their vows in England, citing concerns over recent efforts in the US to potentially reverse the right to same-sex marriage. She expressed that America can still be “scary for people to be who they are”.
Addressing the allegations of a toxic work environment that led to the cancellation of her long-running talk show in 2022, DeGeneres admitted to being “very blunt” at times, but dismissed the reports as “clickbait”.
For three decades, Ellen DeGeneres was a fixture on US television, recognized for her daytime talk show, her 1990s sitcom, hosting duties at the Oscars, Grammys, and Emmys, and her voice work as Dory in “Finding Nemo”.
Following the cancellation of her talk show, she embarked on a “final stand-up tour” in the US in 2024 and subsequently purchased a home in the Cotswolds, a historically significant and picturesque region spanning parts of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.
During a conversation with broadcaster Richard Bacon at the Everyman theatre in Cheltenham on Sunday, she confirmed that reports of her relocation being influenced by Donald Trump were accurate. “Yes,” she affirmed.
The 67-year-old stated that she and de Rossi initially intended to spend three to four months a year in the UK and acquired what they believed would be a “part-time house”.
“We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, ‘He got in’,” she recounted. “And we’re like, ‘We’re staying here’.”
DeGeneres has shared glimpses of her new rural life on social media, featuring videos of her farm animals, including sheep – which have since been sold due to their frequent escapes.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” she remarked. “We’re just not used to seeing this kind of beauty. The villages and the towns and the architecture – everything you see is charming and it’s just a simpler way of life.”
“It’s clean. Everything here is just better – the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here.”
“We moved here in November, which was not the ideal time, but I saw snow for the first time in my life. We love it here. Portia flew her horses here, and I have chickens, and we had sheep for about two weeks.”
On her recent tour, she quipped that she had been “kicked out of show business twice” – the first instance being when she publicly came out as gay in 1997.
She told the Cheltenham audience that this decision effectively led to the end of her sitcom as advertisers withdrew their support and the network ceased promoting the show.
When Bacon inquired whether her visibility had encouraged others to come out, she responded, “I would say no. I imagined a lot of people coming out like meerkats poking out of a hole and going back in again. ‘How’s she doing? OK, no, no.'”
She continued, emphasizing that it is “a really hard decision” that is not suitable for everyone, and noted that while things are better today “in some ways,” they are not in others.
“If it was [better], all these other people that are actors and actresses that I know they’re gay, they’d be out, but they’re not, because it’s still a problem. People are still scared.”
DeGeneres also referenced a recent move by the Southern Baptist Convention to endorse the reversal of a Supreme Court case allowing same-sex marriage. At least nine state legislatures have introduced bills to do the same.
“The Baptist Church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage,” she stated. “They’re trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it. Portia and I are already looking into it, and if they do that, we’re going to get married here.”
In response to an audience question later, she added, “I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are. I wish that we lived in a society where everybody could accept other people and their differences.”
“So until we’re there, I think there’s a hard place to say we have huge progress.”
However, she noted that the younger generation are “more comfortable with it” and are “just kind of fluid.” “So I think the younger generation is going to show us the way,” she added.
Following allegations of a toxic workplace culture from former employees on her talk show, the star – who concluded each episode by urging viewers to “be kind to one another” – was labeled as “mean” in the media.
In the wake of the scandal, three producers were terminated amid allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment, and the final season of the show began with DeGeneres issuing an on-air apology.
She addressed the controversy during her 2024 tour and the accompanying Netflix stand-up special.
“No matter what, any article that came up, it was like, ‘She’s mean’, and it’s like, how do I deal with this without sounding like a victim or ‘poor me’ or complaining? But I wanted to address it.”
“It’s as simple as, I’m a direct person, and I’m very blunt, and I guess sometimes that means that… I’m mean?”
She also expressed that it was “kind of crazy” that labeling someone as mean “can be the worst thing that you say about a woman.”
“How dare us have any kind of mood, or you can’t be anything other than nice and sweet and kind and submissive and complacent.”
She added, “I don’t think I can say anything that’s ever going to get rid of that [reputation] or dispel it, which is hurtful to me. I hate it. I hate that people think that I’m that because I know who I am and I know that I’m an empathetic, compassionate person.”
She described it as “certainly an unpleasant way to end” her talk show.
DeGeneres shared that she misses “a lot” about her show but believes that a similar format would no longer be viable.
“I mean, I wish it did, because I would do the same thing here. I would love to do that again, but I just feel like people are watching on their phones, or people aren’t really paying attention as much to televisions, because we’re so inundated with with information and entertainment.”
She stated that she was unsure of her future plans, but would choose her next move “very carefully.”
“I just don’t know what that is yet,” she said. “I want to have fun, I want to do something. I do like my chickens but I’m a little bit bored.”
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